According to Minister of Environmental Protection Zhou Shengxian, the future functions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection will be strengthened in four directions: overall coordination, macro-control, supervision and enforcement, and public service. This shows that the participation of the Ministry of Environmental Protection in the national macro-decision has become its core function.
The Second Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee established the overall plan for institutional reform of the State Council, and the first meeting of the 11th National People's Congress voted to form the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Not long ago, the State Council reviewed and approved the "Three Sets" plan of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. With the reduction of government agencies and the constant number of establishments, the “three-defining†program of the Ministry of Environmental Protection has been strengthened in terms of functions, institutions, and staffing.
"This is of great significance for completing the task of environmental protection in the new era and promoting historic transformation." Zhou Shengxian said that at the same time, it will also have a positive role in promoting the reform of the national environmental protection system and strengthening the organization and capacity building of the system.
According to the "three-determined" plan, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has set up 14 internal agencies and increased three divisions, namely, the total discharge control department of pollutants, the environmental monitoring department, and the publicity and education department. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has 311 administrative agencies.
It is understood that on the July 25th meeting of the Ministry of Environmental Protection's mobilization meeting for the implementation of the "Three Sets" plan, the Director of the Total Pollutant Discharge Control Division and the Director of the Environmental Monitoring Division were recommended democratically. In addition, the chief engineer of the Ministry, the director of the Ministry of Emergency Response Center, and the director of the North China Inspection Center were also nominated at the meeting. However, it is still at the stage of soliciting opinions and publicity.
In the responsibilities adjustment of the "three-definition" plan, it has clarified the overall coordination and responsibility for strengthening environmental policies, planning, and major issues. Strengthen the responsibility for environmental governance and guidance, coordination, and supervision of ecological protection. Strengthen the implementation of national emission reduction targets and environmental supervision duties. At the same time, the responsibility for the approval and issuance of water pollutant discharge permit shall be handed over to the local environmental protection administrative department.
The newly approved "Three Sets" program has determined the 13 responsibilities of the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Zhou Shengxian analyzed that this further streamlined the division of responsibilities among departments, strengthened the overall coordination of environmental policies, planning, and major issues, and clarified the responsibilities of “coordinating and coordinating major environmental issues†and “guiding, coordinating, and supervising ecological protectionâ€. Prevention of environmental pollution and ecological damage at the source, clear planning and environmental assessment, regional limits and other responsibilities; improved environmental monitoring and forecasting and early warning, and ability to respond to environmental emergencies, clearly defined the environmental quality survey and evaluation, unified release of environmental information and other duties Strengthened the implementation of national emission reduction targets and environmental supervision; strengthened duties such as total volume control, target responsibility system, and emission reduction assessment; initially divided the boundaries of departmental responsibilities, and to a certain extent solved the problems of monitoring and information that have long plagued environmental protection efforts. Issues such as the publication of overlapping responsibilities.
At the same time, the “San Ding†program clearly stipulates the duties and responsibilities for “water controlâ€. The Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for water environment quality and water pollution control. The Ministry of Water Resources is responsible for the protection of water resources. The two departments should further strengthen coordination and cooperation, establish an inter-ministerial consultation mechanism, regularly report on the situation concerning the prevention and control of water pollution and the protection of water resources, and negotiate and resolve relevant major issues.
In addition, the information on the water environment is clearly released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and is responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of the information. The Ministry of Water Resources issues the content of water environmental quality in the hydrology and water resources information, which should be agreed with the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
Zhou Shengxian stated that the increase of responsibilities, institutions, and preparations will further resolve the mechanism and obstacles of the environmental protection work in advancing the historic transformation, and will accelerate the development of environmental protection.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection finalized the "three-definition" plan
The Ministry of Environmental Protection was established on March 27 this year and it has been more than four months since then. According to the “Three Sets†plan officially announced recently, the Ministry of Environmental Protection has set up 14 internal agencies, added 3 divisions, and has 311 administrative agencies.